Travel, gas prices on the rise since last spring, AAA says

Though the cost of crude oil is at about a two and a half year high, AAA Michigan spokeswoman Nancy Cain says increasing gas prices aren't likely to hamper spring vacation and Easter travel.

Cain said more people are traveling now than last year at this time and, unless gas prices increase significantly, she expects it will stay that way. The price motorists pay at the pump is determined, in part, by the cost of crude oil, Cain said, and there are a variety of factors that help determine that cost, including the weakening of the U.S. dollar and political unrest in the Middle East and in Libya.

"It's an unfortunate set of circumstances for motorists," Cain said. "We're paying almost $1 more per gallon than this time last year."

Michigan's average price for regular unleaded gas as of Tuesday, April 19, was $3.954 per gallon, compared to the national average price of $3.835 that day, according to AAA's website.

Michigan wasn't the only state with an average gas price greater than the national average as of Tuesday. And the average retail prices for regular unleaded gas in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Illinois and New York topped $4 per gallon that day, according to the website's database.

Cain said AAA Michigan conducts surveys several times a year to gauge holiday travel -- Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the time period of Christmas and New Year's. Though AAA does not do an Easter or spring break travel survey, Cain said, it is evident that travel has increased from last year.

She said one explanation for increased travel this year, despite greater fuel costs, may be the overall improvements to the economy in the last year. Cain also said people who did not travel last year may be anxious to get out on the road this year.

Rob Blair, of Petoskey, filled the tank of his work-provided truck at Petoskey's Next Door Store Tuesday afternoon.

"(Gas prices) probably won't affect my habits, from the stand point that I'm not traveling to California," Blair said. "It's not going to dissuade me from traveling."

At least for the Easter holiday though, Blair said, he'll be staying home, as he has family members who are planning to visit.

Peter Fitzsimons, executive director of the Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau, said he does not expect gas prices to have a significant effect on tourism to the area this year.

"(The price of gas) affects everybody. Is it going to slow them down from coming? To some extent," he said. "I don't expect we're going to experience a huge down turn from that."

Fitzsimons said people prioritize vacations and family trips, so increasing gas prices won't stop them, though longer trips may be more vulnerable to an increasing price at the pump.

He added, most people who visit Petoskey -- about 70 to 76 percent -- are Michigan residents.

Fitzsimons could not provide an estimate of how many people visit the Petoskey area each year because, he said, there are various types of visitors -- people who stay at hotels, motels and condominiums, people who stay with friends and family, people who stop while passing through and people who come with their boats.

He said there has been "just enough economic recovery in other areas that people are willing and able to travel again."

"That will bode well for us in the Petoskey area," he said.

Smith said increasing gas prices don't typically hinder travel to the region, since most visitors to the Petoskey area come from elsewhere in the state or in the Great Lakes region.

"I don't think gas prices are a deal breaker for our traveler," he said. "The traveler who comes to the Petoskey area."

However, Smith said increasing gas prices will affect area businesses.

"From a business' standpoint, gas prices are a big issue," he said. "I think this will have an effect, not only on local businesses, but also on consumers."

Jim Baumann, Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce executive director, said he doesn't anticipate gas prices will stop people from visiting the Boyne area.

"It might hurt a little, but it just depends how high it goes," he said. "I just don't think that somebody, for their family vacation or their weekends up north, is going to let higher gas prices really cancel their plans."

Scott Herceg, executive director of theHarbor Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, said he has not heard if or to what extent gas prices are affecting area businesses, and he said it's difficult to predict how tourism to Harbor Springs may be impacted.

"It's got the possibility to affect those long-distance travelers more so than the day-trippers," Herceg said. "I think we need to wait and see."

Herceg said many of the people who visit Harbor Springs are so-called "resorters," who have second homes in the area. There are also people who visit for a day or a weekend, he said, and some people who come from out of state.